the millions already. brian, what did you learn today? >> i learned if you're going to take a la ma onto the subway you should bring a disguise. >> matt. >> listen, the obama administration, the change it if you like it, you can keep it if it hasn't changed, i'll be interested to see how the message changes. >> what did you learn, mika? >> i think chris christie will make history tonight. >> okay. fair enough. that virginia race, i'll tell you what, i'm going to be watching the virginia race. ron paul went to virginia yesterday and said you'd be crazy to vote for the libertarian candidate. i don't know. that race in virginia may be closer than we think, but all eyes i think in the republican party, at least, on alabama to see whether the chamber and joe ricketts and others make a difference. what time is it? >> "morning joe." stay tuned for a very special election day issue of chuck todd's "the daily rundown." >> it's llama time.

come on. that music. doesn't it give you tingles? voters are voting. so are candidates. like terry mcauliffe in virginia. in a few minutes we'll talk to his opponent, ken cuccinelli, as he stumps in the final hours. and we'll have the latest on chris christie's garden party to re-election. also this morning, independent turned republican turned dehn charlie crist will talk about his new party in his bid for his old job. history says he's got a tough feat to pull off. plus, big votes in big cities today. new york's battle is just one of about a dozen major cities picking new leaders today. like boston, where 20 years of the tenure for tom menino officially comes to a close. good morning from new york and happy election day. one of my favorite days of the year. it's tuesday, november 5th, 2013. this is "the daily rundown." let's get right to my "first reads" of this campaign morning. a lot could change from 2014 to

2016 but the races tonight in virginia, new jersey, new york city, alabama, they matter. they'll offer the first clues about the political landscape as we look ahead to the next year and beyond. 312 cities choose mayors today. new york city will elect a new mayor for the first time in 12 years. boston, detroit, houston, and miami are a few of the other cities that will be electing new mayors. 236 state legislative seats are up including 220 in virginia and new jersey alone. can the statewide winners there win with big enough margins that they provide long coattails for legislative candidates? there are 31 ballot measures up for a vote in six states including in houston. the old astrodome and what to do with it. of course two states, virginia and new jersey, will elect or re-elect new governors today. it could be the first time since 1973 when the party that controls the white house wins the virginia gubernatorial race. it could be the first time since 1985 when the winner of the virginia and new jersey gubernatorial contests come from

different parties. and a statewide republican candidate in new jersey could get more than 50% of the vote for the first time since '88. could be the first time that a democrat wins new york's mayoral contest since 1989. and it could be the first time since the early '90s that boston has a new mayor. detroit may get its first white mayor since 1974. but of course the two big contests we'll be watching tonight are the governors races in new jersey and virginia. no state has better reflected the center of american politics or the kun ti's changing demographics than the old dominion. perhaps we should be calling it the new dominion. democrat terry mcauliffe cast his ballot in northern virginia this morning, one of those transforming parts of the state. >> whooo! >> thank you. >> terry, terry, terry! >> in the last two presidential elections, virginia's popular vote exactly matched the national popular vote. if democrats are able to sweep

today's races and gain control over the governor's mansion, which terry mcauliffe is trying to take back and republican ken cuccinelli is trying to hold on to, if they win the lieutenant governor governor's race and if they complete the hat trick with the attorney general contest where democrat mark herring is battling mark oeb cheng, that would be a major feat in a swing state. cuccinelli cast his vote in oakesville, virginia, a few minutes ago. sur galts for both campaigns have crowded into the state, arguing the race offers a stark choice and also believe that it's a bellwether for next year and for 2016. >> i'm here because this race matters well beyond the state of virginia. it's the first major race between the forces and faces of the new republican tea party, a tea party whose social recidivism is outdone only by

its hostility to science and technology, innovation, and scholarship. >> this is the first election in america since the full impact of obama care has been felt. this is first chance of people in this country to speak clearly at the ballot box about the impact that this law is having on their lives and on our economy. and this race is a very clear choice between a strong supporter of it and the first attorney general in america who stood up against it. >> well, the 2009 governor's race in virginia did give us a hint that a 2010 republican wave was coming. the biggest take-away we get tonight might not be about which party is up but about the future of the tea party. the contrast between ken cuccinelli in virginia who is running as a strong conservative tea party-backed candidate and the new jersey governor, republican chris christie, whose calling card is collectability, is clear. >> i absolutely that what you're going to see tomorrow is something that hasn't happened

in this state in a generation. i had all kinds of folks whispering in my ear today, "i'm a democrat. don't tell anybody i'm voting for you." >> though christie is running for re-election as governor, his campaign team is hardly hiding the fact that they want to run up the score tonight a la george w. bush's 1998 re-election victory in texas. they want to show some impressive exit poll numbers, not just among democrats and independents but among some minority voters. all in an effort to brandish his electability credentials for a potential presidential bid in three years. to hammer home the point, he spent the last three days of his campaign canvassing the state with diana martinez, who didn't have many ties to new jersey. we're seeing a ticket. >> like you said, people are talking.

>> more of susana martinez later in the show, but christie is not afraid to joke about 2016 when he's on the trail. >> you know, it feels like good new jersey november weather. >> christie has criticized washington, distanced himself from the tea party, but the republican party in new jersey is not exactly the republican party in iowa. does that hurt him down the road? >> governor, any concerns about tea party conservatives not being as supportive of you the more you reach out to democrats? >> no. i think what you're going to find is that with tomorrow night's result, you don't have to worry about that. you appeal to everybody. we'll get huge republican support, 94%, 95% tomorrow night, at least so, it hasn't affected us here at all and i don't think it will affect me or this kind of politics anywhere in the country because people want things to get done. >> some interviews with some new jersey republicanings, though, who are aware that their version of republican party politics is a lot different than in iowa.

of course presidential olympics is also lurking in the background in virginia, which is turning into a test of the clintons' clout. they have done ten public vents for mcauliffe. >> i love terry mcauliffe and his wife and his five kids, and i'd be here if he were 50 points behind instead of about to be your next governor. >> he's always been there for me, and i'm pleased to be here for him. >> one more race to keep an eye on tonight is down in alabama. it's a special election. it's a runoff, actually. republican congressional runoff between bradley byrne and dean young in the first district there. byrne, the electability establishment candidate, young the tea party evangelical candidate. dean young winning in alabama on a vow to be one of the most conservative members of congress is one thing. it could tell us more about the gop stands. if byrne wins, it could be quite

a fetter in the cap and it would make the southern republican establishment guys think that cochran, mitch mcconnell, lamar alexander might all be breathing easier after tonight. in an off-year election, one of the biggest hurdles for both campaigns is making sure voters don't stay home. in the last gubernatorial election in 2009, less than 2 million virginians cast ballots. that was only 40% of registered voters. this time around both campaigns are expecting turnout to go up, perhaps exceeding 2 million votes for the first time in a governor's race. mcauliffe's campaign believes turnout will not be that low and says matching what turned out four years apg, that's the floor. nbc's luke russert is live across the potomac. he's in mclean. well, luke, what have you seen this morning? mclean, obviously, this is terry mcauliffe territory, used to be a swing area, not so much anymore in northern virginia these days. what are you seeing? >> reporter: well, good morning, chuck. we're here live at langley high school in mclean, virginia, and so far election officials tell

us turnout is light. around 6:00 in the morning there were about 30 or so people lined up. they went through, sort of the early bird, but it's been slow and steady to say the least, but we haven't seen anywhere near what we would normally see in a presidential year. what's interesting today is both kand damts are try and turn out their bases. the whole thing with this governor's race is about, chuck, turnout, turnout, turnout. terry mcauliffe crisscrossing the state, going to those high density urban areas. the areas of richmond, here in northern virginia, down around norfolk, that whole area. ken cuccinelli, he's going in around the roanoke, lynchburg, shenandoah, the republican strongholds to get out the vote. this has been very much been a nationalized race as you have reported. the last few days we've seen a real movement from democrats to try and bring back the government shutdown and put it in the forefront of virginia voters' minds. that's very important for a lot of p federal workers in northern virginia and the federal contractors around the norfolk area depend so much on the

military industry. republicans trying to tie mcauliffe directly to the president's health care law as well as high taxes. you haven't really seen too much of the lab frel their own parties you've seen terry mcauliffe, jobs, ken cuccinelli, running against washington. the republican and democrat moniker has not been pumped up from each candidate. lastly, chuck, this interesting factoid, if mcauliffe pulls this off tonight he would be the fourth governor in a row born above the mason/dixon line in the state of virginia. >> more importantly, not born in the state of virginia. one person you did not mention who is on the ballot. >> reporter: correct. >> and not easy for third-party candidates to even get on the virginia ballot is of course mr. sarvis, the libertarian candidate. >> reporter: indeed. >> what his number is going to be. have you seen any evidence of sarvis supporters in mclean? not necessarily where he's been targeting. >> no. to be quite honest with you, i've not seen a lot of sarvis get out the effort here in mclean, virginia, but that's to be expected. this is not a bastion of

libertarianism in the comfortable enclave that is langley high school, my friend. >> there it is. luke russert, enjoy. langley high school, not too far away from the district line. take care, sir. terry mcauliffe hasn't trailed in a single public poll since july. ken cuccinelli has been outraised and outspent on the air by a wide margin. mcauliffe outraised him by almost $15 million. not the final number bus the closest we have. outside of the republican governor's association and the state party, cuccinelli only received three checks of $100,000 or more. mcauliffe, orlando, he had 37 different folks that were able to write him checks for $100,000. and the democrat party put every penny to work. 60% of the tv, radio, and cable ads were made by mcauliffe or groups supporting him. virginia's republican attorney general, ken cuccinelli, joins me on phone. you just voted. we showed pictures.

you have made health care your -- you want to make this a referendum on the president's health care law and the last ten days. i guess my question for you is why not be entire campaign? why do this late switch the way you've done it in the last few days? >> well, chuck, it wasn'tly a late switch. obama care came online october 1st and i was the first person in the country to fight it. some people don't know, but terry mcauliffe didn't think it went far enough. a strong contrast and one of the next battles over obama care is in the state, do you expand medicaid or not. terry wants to expand it even though it's already failing in the first month and i don't. we have a live state issue here that has mostly been viewed at the federal level so far and we both have very clear and contrasting positions on it. and i think we're seeing the damage that obama care is doing with the insurance cancellations. unfortunately the revelations in the last week or two that the

white house knew for years and years that all these millions of americans were going to lose their health insurance and yet they went out there and said if you like your health insurance and if you like your doctor you can keep them and it was not true. and here in virginia, you know, that has waken people up in the last two weeks, particularly as the failure has become very real. that's why this is a late-race phenomenon, chuck. >> okay. >> it really didn't go into effect until october 1st and the impacts are already being felt quickly and they're all very negative. >> obviously if you win you're going to believe it was health care that put you over the top. does that mean if you don't win virginia voters are saying, you know what, give health care a chance? is that how we should leave it? >> i kind of leave that to pundits like you. my job is really just to make the contrast, try to put the truth through to people about this and about our differences in taxes. he wants more, i want less. and you weren't the only debeat monitor to not be able to get him to take a firm stand on what

we'll pay for and what he'll say. i imagine he hasn't come on your show either. he's been hiding. you know, while i'm terribly afraid of what obama care is doing to virginians, terry mcauliffe right now is more afraid of what obama care is doing to terry mcauliffe. and we'll find out when they count the votes tonight p. >> the last national figure you appeared with was ron paul. >> last night. >> last night. famously a libertarian presidential nominee way back when. and of course a republican presidential candidate a couple of times in the last decade. does that -- should we look at that and say you're concerned that there are some voters for the third-party candidate, the libertarian candidate, mr. sarvis, that you think should be cuccinelli voters? >> actually, i have a long track record as a strong pro liberty candidate whether i'm fighting the federal government, the biggest opponent of all, or just on behalf of one person. i'm going to leave as attorney general helping exonerate more belongly convicted felons than

any a.g. in history. we fight the spectrum. liberty is something i've been proud to fight for, and ron paul is the face of that in america more than any other, so we were pleased to have him help us finish off the race last night. >> what do you make of all the analysis that says chris christie has run one type of race, you've run another type of race, you ideologically don't have a lot in common and the results should be viewed through that prism? what do you say about that? >> well, you know, new jersey's a whole lot different than virginia and he's an incumbent and i'm not. so, again, i leave that really more to the pundits. i'm focused on talking to one voter at a time. that's what i started doing at my own polling place. i'm working my way back through my old state senate district in fairfax and then we'll work our way down to rich monday. i'm answering questions, calling on decided voters during the day and just trying to get people all the information they need. there's been -- talked about the money in this race. that money has been spent lying about me in large part by terry mcauliffe. so i have a lot of truth to get out there. and the more people learn about

me and my record, my actual record and what we want to do, the better we do. >> ken cuccinelli, republican nominee for governor in virginia, we'll be watching tonight. stay safe on the campaign trail. i know you'll be crisscrossing the state. >> thanks, chuck. good to be with you. j much more ahead. from cristy to the clintons, how this election day will echo for years to come. and the biggest governor's race not on the ballot, charlie crist. here's your planner for today. 7:00. what will we say about virginia after reading the exit polls? 8:00? same thing. see you in a minute. we went out and asked people a simple question: how old is the oldest person you've known? we gave people a sticker and had them show us. we learned a lot of us have known someone who's lived well into their 90s. and that's a great thing. but even though we're living longer, one thing that hasn't changed much is the official retirement age.

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great campaigns are never about yesterday. they're always about tomorrow. they're always about tomorrow. and the candidate who people want to vote for is the candidate who credibly and honestly expresses hope and optimism and a plan for the future. >> that was political consultant -- sorry. that was new jersey governor chris christie. i said that because that's what political consultants say to candidates all the time. if he does decide to run for president sometime soon, he's probably going to have a copy of that speech handy for the stump speech. i talked to some people in new jersey about the possibility of a presidential run. in fact, most people were showing up at these events were there hoping to take a picture with a guy they think might be in the oval office, not hanging out in trenton. but it was interest, one woman brought up same-sex marriage. i didn't ask. show brought it up. it's legal in the garden state. it was used to frame christie's challenge in those early voting states. this person brought it up to me. fascinating. take a listen.

>> yeah. maybe we are a little more liberal than in iowa, but it's the way life is today. nothing you can do about it. >> our msnbc contribute or the and political editor of the grio. perry, my basic question to that woman was how's jersey going to play in iowa? and she brought up the whole back and forth that's gone on with the same-sex marriage issue and what christie should do about it and she basically said, you know what, we're a different type of republican here. and this was a republican she's been a republican all her life. it was an interesting message she was sending i thought to iowa. the question is how do iowa republicans respond to that? sn. >> i mean, my suspicion is they won't respond it to very well. there's certainly a path in which christie can become the republican nominee without winning in iowa, which john mccain did. he has to figure out how to

translate this message. he accepted the medicaid funding under obama care. he has to translate to more conservative voters in the south. he'll need some tea party voters to support him. how does he translate that and explain some of that as he goes looking forward. the next race is the primary in 2016 and that is full of conservative-looking voters. >> you know, beth, when you have -- and the last days of the campaign, particularly in a state off-year election, you see plenty of outsiders. they get brought in to help with get out the vote efforts because you want to build a crowd. that's not what chris christie did yesterday. he toured the state with susana martinez, not a household name in the state of new jersey, a republican hispanic governor from the state of new mexico. i talked to her about why she was there and why why she wanted to campaign for christie. here was her answer. >> democrats and republicans he sees them as people he serve, creates relationships on both sides of the aisle.

otherwise you get this deadlock or gridlock that doesn't ever loosen up and allow for what's best for those that you serve. and he's done that. he's created those relationships with democrats, with republicans, with angelo, hispanics, african-americans. it doesn't matter who it is. if you're going to be a leader, you represent all the people of your state. >> electability message. couldn't hide from it yesterday when following christie around, beth. >> right. there has never been much suspense about the new jersey governor's race. this is more about sending a message about the kind of republican he is, that he can win in a blue state with a female hispanic governor, a former democrat, by the way, by his side. it's really a very symbolic victory, and he wants to send a message about the kind of republican that he is and where he thinks he can take the party. >> you know, perry, assuming he

does do what he does, the question is how quickly does his campaign start? he's going to be chairman of the republican governors association, so he has a free and easy excuse to be traveling the country nationwide and essentially meeting every major donor in every major city in this country. >> i think he's already started. i mean, if you were on the trail with him, he's actually been talking about look how well i'm going to do among hispanic, among women, among blacks. he's already saying the things he would be saying if he were running in 2015. i think we'll see him head to south carolina, maybe new hampshire particularly in the next year for certain, in the next few months if s my assumption. he's been open with the voters there saying i am not committed to staying a full term. he's all but told people he's going to be running pretty soon and i think they expect that. >> beth, i'm going to ask you your former state of florida, 2013 is coming to an end. marco rubio's presidential prospects. are they better today or worse

today than when 2013 began? >> well, he's certainly not seen in the same, you know, sort of rock star aura, halo hanging over his head. you know, he's kind of been through the rigors of sausage making, of passing legislation, and it's certainly taken its toll. but as you've seen in covering presidential campaigns, i mean, there are ups and downs. marco rubio could be back on top next week and ted cruz could be yesterday's news. so i think, you know, we're going to see people's fortunes go up and down, and i would never underestimate senator rubio. he's, you know, very charismatic, got a very powerful message about the american dream. he comes from the nation's biggest battleground state. >> there you go. also a word of warning to mr. christie. he may feel like the establishment front-runner after tonight, but you never know. it's a long way until iowa in january of '16. perry bacon, beth reinhard, thank you much. up next, big votes and big cities. breaking down the most important

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in many of these mayoral positions, parties are de-emphasizing party affiliations. we'll see how that turns out. you don't see the words democrat and republican on campaign signs in a lot of places these days. reed wilson covers state politics and policy for a blog. he joins me now. we'll talk about all these mayors' races and cut it and go by region. so let me begin in the northeast, reid. new mayors in new york city, new mayors in boston. buffalo goes to the polls today. detroit. there's a whole mess load of mayors races all over the country. let's start in the northeast. what are you watching? >> my one big take-away is that old-fashioned liberalism is in in both new york city where bill de blasio is running a campaign that wouldn't have been out of place 10, 15 year ago, even a couple decades ago as sort of the old-time liberal backed by the usual interest groups. in boston the race is becoming a lot more about class than

anything else. the front-runner, marty -- >> walsh. >> blanking. sorry. marty walsh, my mistake, has a lot of backing from old-time liberals, lay yor unit i don't remembers, former labor official. john connally looks like he's running in second place. he's had to answer a lot of questions about patricians. see this as john kerry versus menino, the old patrician democrats versus the pothole labor union dems. >> urban america is going liberal again. feels like the '70s and '80s in some of these cities. the rust belt, buffalo, pittsburgh, cleveland. but detroit is probably the mayor's race a lot of rus the most curious about. could break down along racial lines. we could have the first white mayor of detroit in 40 years. >> it could. but, you know, more than 80% of detroit voters are african-american. but as you say, the front runner is a white guy. his name is mike duggan, a former hospital official,

pitching himself as a tounld artist. his opponent is the former wayne county sheriff and he's african-american, but it looks like duggan, the turnaround artist, is going to be in position for this. it's fascinating to watch, you know, after the emergency manager leaves his position next september, the new mayor is really going to have a lot of leeway because they beal free of so many of the pension obligations and sort of old-time budget issues that have -- >> basically have one year to sort of get ready, to actually start doing the job as mayor even though they'll hold the title. let's go to the south. atlanta, houston among the big cities there having some mayors races. miami, a few other cities. what's your take-away? >> we've got two incumbent who is will do pretty well tonight, annise parker in houston trying to avoid a runoff by getting more than 50%. kaseem reid in atlanta is becoming a rising star in the south, sort of the face of the new democratic coalition there, likely to easily win a second term today.

>> then let's go west of the mississippi. i'm going to basically focus on seattle because you're a native of washington state so i know you know this race. it's been about broadband. tell me about it. >> it's been about a lot of things. traditional seattle mayoral races end up being about a candidate of downtown and a candidate of neighborhoods. in this case there's a curveball because ed murray, the front-runner, is not the incumbent. he's sort of the candidate of downtown. the incumbent, mike mcginn, has really become the neighborhood candidate. he ran as an insurgent four years ago, knocked out the incumbent, greg nichols, and now he looks like he niece trouble this time around. >> been tough for incumbents in seattle it seems. >> yes. >> finicky northwesterners. >> two mayors in a row have gotten the boot. this could be number three. >> reid wilson, our tour across big city america, well done, my friend. thank you, sir. >> thank you. >> trivia time. four of the nation's 50 governors were all born in the swing state of pennsylvania. they include colorado's john

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now for a deep dive into one of the marquee races of 2014. mitch mcconnell will be one and the race for florida right behind it or ahead of it. the media attention will make it feel like a presidential race. in the center, a man whose political evolution has made him a target at times for folks on all sides.

he was once known as chain gang charlie. elected back in 1992, his nickname was derived from a law he sponsored to put shackles on prison worker gangs. in 1998 he married the tough on crime message with a call for smaller government. that didn't work. he lost to graham by more than 20 points. but he stayed in politics by joining jeb bush's administration. after stints as encase attorney general, he ran for governor in 2006 calling himself a commonsense conservative. on certain points his positions were not clear in the '06 campaign calling himself pro-life, a switch from 1998 when he ran as pro-choice republican. after endorsing john mccain in 2008, he em bralsed president obama's stimulus package the following year, which started that angering from fellow republicans. >> why would you buck your own party, which did not vote for this plan in congress as you know, to support this? >> it's not a matter of bucking the party. it's a matter of helping the

people. i really view it as an issue of what can i do that's best for the people of florida. >> after announcing that he would forego a bid for re-election as governor and try for the u.s. senate, he was challenged by conservative marco rubio. unable to run to rubio's right, he tried to embrace the conservative and moderate labels. crist told "time" magazine, "in the enditis a matter of consistency. i'm a pro gun, pro-life fiscal conservative, but i'm also a pragmatic conservative who thinks it's important to remember what a real conservative like jack kemp once said, that the republican party should be a big tent." when it appeared he was headed for defeat in the primary, he left the republican party to run for the u.s. senate as an independent. he said it was about giving the people a choice. >> this is making sure that all the people have the opportunity in my state to make this decision about who their next u.s. senator is. nobody should be afraid of that. >> he spent a million dollars of negative advertising for attacking me for a month and only when did that did not work did he abandon the republican party and decide to run as an

independent. >> crist lost in the fall, left office in 2011, and last december he joined the democratic party. now he's made the full transition from republican to independent to democrat. as evidenced by his announcement monday that he would run for governor, this time under a new party label. >> so, yes, yeah, i'm running as a democrat. and i am proud to do it. >> he's trying a difficult political trick, winning a major political race with one party, then switching sides and winning again. many have tried, few have pulled it off. among the ones who have done it successfully on a statewide level, richard shelby elected as a democrat in 1978, joined the republicans in 1994 and has been re-elected three times. phil gramm from texas elected as a democratic congress, switched to the gop, served as republican this-in the house and eventually the u.s. senate. ben nighthorse campbell switched in '95. served for ten more years. on the state level, alabama

governor fob james served as a democrat from '79 to '83 then won a turn as a republican back in the '90s. david beasley served in the south carolina statehouse as a democrat but was elected governor as a republican. sonny purdue, served eight years in the georgia senate as a democrat, then switched parties and became governor in 2002. nathan deal switched to the gop in '95 and became georgia governor in 2010. tougher trick to go from republican to democrat, most of those with a southern change that we saw over the last generation. joining me now, your new democratic candidate for governor of florida, charlie crist. governor, good morning to you. >> good morning, chuck. how you doing? >> i'm okay. i want to start with a question that -- >> the hurricanes. >> i don't want to talk about the hurricanes yet. but -- >> i know. i know. forgive me. >> that's okay. let's start with why you did not run for re-election in 2010. why did you want to leave the governor's office in 2010 to go

to the u.s. senate and why do you want to go back now? >> one of the things i was most proud of, chuck, when i was serving as governor is the fact we reached across the aisle, we had cooperation, i worked with democrats, republicans, independents, anybody who would help us in florida and do what we needed to do to help education, to help our environment, to have good ethics. and i thought we really had a spirit and a tone of cooperation in our administration in that time in tallahassee. and quite frankly, i thought that we needed to have that in washington, d.c. so i ran for the u.s. senate for florida. it didn't work out. and that's okay. and here we are now. but i really thought that the tone of cooperation is something that i could bring at least in some small degree to washington, d.c., and i guess i was pretty right, it's unfortunately rather dysfunctional as we all know. >> why should democrats believe you're not just switching parties out of convenience because it's the easiest way for you to get back into statewide office? >> because it's really who i am. you know, chuck, i've had friends all my life tell me,

charlie, you're really a democrat and you just don't know it. now i think i know it. when i was a young state senator, you talk about that in your intro, back in the early '90s, i was the only republican that was on the health care committee, voted against the 24-hour waiting period for women who wanted to get an abortion because i just didn't think it was right to impose our will on somebody else and a woman's important decision about what she wants to do with her own body. another example when i was in the state senate, i fought to protect the environment. i actually sponsored a bill that would put prop guards on outboard motors to protect manatees. i mean, this stuff is really not new to me it's things that i've always cared about, always believed were right and it's been more about what's right and wrong rather than what's left or right. that's who charlie crist is. it's who i am. >> what do you believe? define what you think the democratic party is today and what -- forget what makes you comfortable inside the democratic party. what is the democratic party in your view? >> well, it's many things.

you know, all the parties are. they go from one part to another part and i don't know that there's one definition, but for me -- and this is why i'm a democrat -- is because it is where i feel most comfortable. look at the republicans. i think jeb bush said it very well not long ago. he said when your party is perceived as being anti-women, anti-gay, anti-minority, pretty soon the room's empty and that kind of intolerant attitude, at least by the leadership in the republican party, i mean, my mom and dad are still republicans and they're very good, decent people, and a lot of republicans are. but the leadership of the the party, as you know, chuck, has just gone in a direction that's out of control. and i just didn't feel comfortable there anymore. i mean, the way my mom and dad raised my three sisters and me was to be decent to other people, be kind to people, be compassionate, and i just don't see that in today's republican leadership and that's why i'm so much more comfortable as a true democrat. >> interesting you brought up jeb bush. if this were his republican party, would you be comfortable being a republican instead of a democrat?

>> well, maybe even more so his father. again, to dwoet quote my friend, jeb, i think he said also that in today's republican party he doesn't think that his father could get the nomination or even ronald reagan for that much. i mean, it's pretty incredible the transition that's happened in the republican party. it's the thing that has transitioned, not me. i'm just in a place where i feel more comfortable and i feel at home and i'm glad to be here. >> let's talk about the race for -- >> a little time issue here. we've got a lot more of that interview including some issues in the state, education might be the single biggest issue in the florida governor's race. you should hear his thoughts on that. see if he wants to raise taxes, see if he has to raise taxes to do that. plus he has some thoughts on 2016. all of that is going to be in our woeb site after the show. we're right back. a little election day take-away on how to watch the result ls as they come in tonight. [ coughs, sneezes ]

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poll closings will happen in

less than ten hours, so here are a few final thoughts on how to watch this election day. of course to me, the big story is going to be the future of the republican party. this fight with the tea party that's going on. they have a lot on the line, particularly when you consider this. 70% of americans say they don't support the tea party. we see there's a lot of -- i told you yesterday about this idea that the republicans that are most open to moving third party are not tea party republicans, they are the non-tea party republicans. so how are we going to judge this day for this tea party? you're going to judge it really in two states. is there a sweep in virginia, that the democrats end of sweeping, and what happens in that alabama special congressional runoff, tea party versus the establishment. in alabama, that special election for the primary for the state's first congressional district really is a big proxy fight between the establishment, republican candidate bradley burn, who has lost to tea partiers before when he ran for governor and dean young. the two are vying to succeed joe

bonner, who resigned from congress in august. but it may be alabama that tells us much more about what goes on there. let's move to virginia. sarvis, what's he going to do. what's his number going to be? 6, 7%? anything around that 5 or 6 mark, it's probably half former democratic voters, half republican. but as you go up, the closer it gets to 10, it is all coming out of cuccinelli. it's why cuccinelli had ron paul working for him. and watch the roanoke area, particularly that media market. he has concentrated on roanoke in a way he hasn't concentrated in other areas. it's about coal country. coal folks don't like democrats but really don't like cuccinelli. they're very upset with a ruling that the attorney at law's office made there. the other takeaway, we keep sort of taking this bill de blasio blowout for granted. what's going on in new york city is unbelievable. when you think about it, and you

think about what happened in the cities, new york city is sort of leading the way here, but when you think about what happened in the cities in the '80s and '90s when sort of the fear of crime waves and the rising crime rate back in the '80s made crime the number one issue and we saw all of this movement toward independent, moderate republicans taking over mayoralships in the cities, it is a massive shift to the left. new york city is the first one to go but you're seeing it all over. we told you about it earlier. de blasio has a chance of winning an election, not a re-election, but winning an election by a margin that only ed koch ever got. he won by 68 points. koch was an incumbent. abraham beam holds the record when he won by 40 points in 1973. no democrat won the seat since 1989. and guess what, he's also a red sox fan? how about that. a few other things you should know. yes, there are exit polls. i know a bunch of you always

ask. we're exit polling in virginia and new jersey. we're going to learn a lot. what do people think about the health care law in the state of virginia? remember, virginia, america's best swing state when it comes to being as close to the national vote. the obama job approval rating. all of those numbers will be fascinating to look at inside this exit poll so we'll have not just the results, we'll have fascinating little looks at the exit polls, what they mean in virginia, what they mean for chris christie's presidential prospects in new jersey. that's coming up after the polls close. that's it for this edition of "the daily rundown." stick with us all day long. when it comes to elections there's no better place to be than msnbc. tune in today, tune in tonight and tune in tomorrow because we'll have all the results, all the analysis and what it means for 2014 and 2016. coming up next, the baton goes to chris. bye-b bye-bye. in taste, freshness, and nutrition? it's eb. want to give them more vitamins, omega 3s, and less saturated fat?

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good morning. i'm chris jansing. this morning, it's the senate's turn to ask questions about the health care rollout. any minute